Christmas 2011...better late than never

Ah...this has been such a nice Christmas break! I realized not too long ago that I had several vacation days left and since they're use it or lose it, I decided to take them all at the end of the year. I took the 16th off but took Lainey to April's and spent the day doing my errands and baking all of my holiday treats. I might have to start doing that every year! I made 9 loaves of pumpkin bread, 2 batches of peppermint bark, 2 batches of pumpkin-spiced oatmeal pecan cookies, 2 batches of Chex Mix (one regular and one extra seasoned) and a batch of reindeer munch. I tell you...I never felt so domesticated. I even put on an apron and got my stand mixer out. I loved it! Meanwhile, I'd thrown a put of chili together and I had some of my best girlfriends over for a little birthday party for myself. We had a good time just hanging out, talking and eating. I wish we could do that every weekend!

Back to my vacation plans...my last day in the office was the 21st. On the 22nd, Lainey and I went to Jamestown and Troy joined us around dinner time. We did Christmas with my family on the 23rd. And I mean, basically my whole family. My Grandmother and an Aunt & Uncle on my Mom's side were there and then all of my Dad's sisters and various other parts of their families were there. It was a packed house and so much fun! Lainey of course had to entertain everyone and she got a ridiculous amount of gifts, including a little kitchen, books, a purse, a baby doll and stroller and various other things.

Christmas Eve morning we got up early and made our way to Goldsboro because we needed to be there by 10:00 for the annual brunch. We stopped at our house on the way to unload the gifts and then we were off. Sort of. We had a little snafu on our way out of town. I had Lainey in her cute Christmas dress (see our visit with Santa). Troy and I were driving separately because we knew we needed the 4Runner for presents while the Honda would have our luggage (totally need a minivan). Troy being oh so patient, he took off out of our neighborhood to get to brunch while I loaded Lainey in the Honda. I had just gotten on 540 to scoot around Raleigh when Lainey started saying she needed a diaper. Well, I couldn't just leave her in a dirty diaper and I thought I smelled her so I called Troy and told him I was going to pull off to change her and then get right back on. Long story short(-ish)...you cannot trust a 17-month old. I stopped at a gas station (because I needed gas too and thought I'd be smart and do both). I checked her and she was just a little wet. Since I already had her tights and everything off, I figured I'd change her really quickly in the backseat while getting gas. But I guess when that cool air hit her little bare rear end, it made her have to go. So now she had managed to pee all over herself and the backseat. Oops! How could I made such a rookie mistake this late in the game? I called Troy who of course was about 30 minutes ahead of me at this point. So I did what I could with a few napkins and wipes and stripped her down. We arrived in Goldsboro with her wearing a diaper and jacket and covered up with my sweater like a blanket. But the good news is that we made it to brunch!

The rest of our time in Goldsboro was much more relaxing and again, Lainey racked up. Don't get me wrong, we did too. Troy got a remote-controlled helicopter and cornhole boards and I got Tupperware and a new robe. These are the things we asked for...why does it sound like I'm elderly and married to a 12 year-old?

Anyways...here are a few pics to recap the festivities (in reverse order because I don't feel like shuffling them around). :)